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Former Texas governor Rick Perry suggests that going days without power is a sacrifice Texans should be willing to make if it means keeping federal regulators out of the state’s power grid.

In a blog posted on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's website, Perry is quoted responding to the claim that “those watching on the left may see the situation in Texas as an opportunity to expand their top-down, radical proposals.”

“Texans would be without electricity for longer than three days to keep the federal government out of their business,” Perry is quoted as saying. “Try not to let whatever the crisis of the day is take your eye off of having a resilient grid that keeps America safe personally, economically, and strategically.”

Texas’s power grid, run by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, occupies a unique distinction in the United States in that it does not cross state lines and thus is not under the oversight of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

That has long been a point of pride with Texas politicians who in the 2000s chose to deregulate the state's power market and allow power companies, not state regulators, determine when and how to build and maintain power plants.

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Originally posted by CHAS:
Hope this is the end of Cruz.

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he is actually afraid he might die.

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He said that his two daughters, who are 12 and 10 years old, had asked him and his wife to take them to Mexico after the Cruz family themselves lost electrical power.

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Cruz’s suggestion that he had flown to Mexico only to drop off is family and leave after less than a full day was contradicted by the fact that he booked his return ticket to Texas only at 6 a.m. Thursday, according to a source with knowledge of the situation who spoke to NBC News.

That source said Cruz had originally been booked to return from Mexico on Saturday.

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That has long been a point of pride with Texas politicians who in the 2000s chose to deregulate the state's power market and allow power companies, not state regulators, determine when and how to build and maintain power plants.

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Text messages sent from Ms. Cruz to friends and Houston neighbors on Wednesday revealed a hastily planned trip. Their house was “FREEZING,” as Ms. Cruz put it — and she proposed a getaway until Sunday. Ms. Cruz invited others to join them at the Ritz-Carlton in Cancún, where they had stayed “many times,” noting the room price this week ($309 per night) and its good security. The text messages were provided to The New York Times and confirmed by a second person on the thread, who declined to be identified because of the private nature of the texts.

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Mr. Cruz’s critics quickly circulated hashtags mocking his trip: #FlyinTed

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Sen. Ted Cruz said that flying to Cancun, Mexico, as a winter disaster in his home state left millions without power or water "was obviously a mistake" and that "in hindsight I wouldn't have done it."

Cruz, a Texas Republican, spoke to reporters after returning to his Houston home Thursday evening from a trip that has earned fierce criticism on social media and in his own backyard.

"I started having second thoughts almost the moment I sat down on the plane, because on the one hand, all of us who are parents have a responsibility to take care of our kids, take care of our family. That's something Texans have been doing across the state," said Cruz, who had said in an earlier statement that he flew to Mexico because his daughters had asked to take a trip and he was trying to be a "good dad."

"But I also have a responsibility that I take very seriously for the state of Texas and frankly, leaving when so many Texans were hurting didn't feel right and so I changed my return flight and flew back on the first available flight I could take," Cruz continued.

With protesters audible outside his home, Cruz said he understands the anger many Texans feel toward his decision.


"Of course, I understand why people are upset. Listen, we're in a strange time where Twitter's been going crazy and the media is going crazy and there's a lot of venom and vitriol that I think is unfortunate frankly on both sides," Cruz said. "I think everyone ought to treat each other with respect and decency and try to understand each other more particularly at a time of crisis."

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Originally posted by big al:

I had prepared a much longer commentary on energy alternatives and their relative pluses and minuses, but it disappeared before posting.

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Originally posted by wtg:
Then there's Rick Perry.

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Former Texas governor Rick Perry suggests that going days without power is a sacrifice Texans should be willing to make if it means keeping federal regulators out of the state’s power grid.

In a blog posted on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's website, Perry is quoted responding to the claim that “those watching on the left may see the situation in Texas as an opportunity to expand their top-down, radical proposals.”

“Texans would be without electricity for longer than three days to keep the federal government out of their business,” Perry is quoted as saying. “Try not to let whatever the crisis of the day is take your eye off of having a resilient grid that keeps America safe personally, economically, and strategically.”

Texas’s power grid, run by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, occupies a unique distinction in the United States in that it does not cross state lines and thus is not under the oversight of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

That has long been a point of pride with Texas politicians who in the 2000s chose to deregulate the state's power market and allow power companies, not state regulators, determine when and how to build and maintain power plants.

https://www.houstonchronicle.c...outs-to-15956705.php

Here's McCarthy's blog:

https://www.republicanleader.gov/whats-up-in-texas/

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When you’re in a hole, stop digging.